HUNTINGTON BEACH : Work to Proceed on Seniors Center

Having quelled a political dispute that threatened to postpone the expansion of the senior citizens center, the City Council last week agreed to begin seeking builders for the project.

The city plans to add a 2,600-foot building to the existing downtown Michael E. Rodgers Senior Citizens Center to better provide health and recreation services for the city’s burgeoning population of seniors.

The proposal had been held up after Councilman Don MacAllister asked the city attorney whether a measure on the Nov. 6 ballot could prevent the center’s expansion.

Measure C, sponsored by a park-preservation citizens group, is a proposed City Charter amendment that would prohibit the city from selling or leasing any park or beach land without voter approval. The measure would also require a citywide vote before the city builds any structure costing more than $100,000 on park or beach land.

MacAllister, who ardently opposes the ballot measure, had argued that since the center is on a parcel that may be considered parkland and the proposed expansion will cost $150,000, the initiative could kill the plan.

Councilwoman Grace Winchell, who supports Measure C, contended that MacAllister, by raising the question, was “politicizing” the issue and unnecessarily delaying a badly needed facility.

City Atty. Gail C. Hutton finally resolved the debate in a legal opinion she released this week. According to her ruling, because the city has a binding contract with the center’s operator, that pact would supersede any charter amendment.

Additionally, the measure would not apply to the senior citizens center because the initiative includes a provision that exempts service facilities, she said.

The new building, scheduled to open in June, will more than double the capacity of the Rodgers Senior Citizens Center, at 17th Street and Orange Avenue.